Criminal court statistics quarterly, England and Wales, July to September 2017

Including statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals

Main points

Outstanding cases in magistrates’ courts are at a similar level to Q2 2017

Despite receipts being slightly higher than disposals in Q3 2017, the number of outstanding cases remained fairly similar to the previous quarter, at 285,000 in Q3 2017.

Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have fallen

Disposals remained higher than receipts in the quarter, continuing to drive the decrease in outstanding cases to 38,700, the lowest number in the quarterly time series.

Despite decreasing, violence against the person still had the highest number of outstanding cases

In Q3 2017 the number of outstanding violence against the person cases decreased to 7,400, whilst continuing to have the highest volume of receipts, disposals and outstanding cases.

The average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court has decreased

For cases completing in the Crown Court, the average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court decreased from 174 days in Q2 2017 to 172 days in Q3 2017.

Total financial impositions have decreased

Total financial impositions have decreased by 12% in the latest quarter, mostly driven by the decrease in fines following one high imposition in Q2 2017.

Interpreters: The success rate of completed requests remained stable

The success rate for completed service requests was 98% in Q3 2017, the same as the previous quarter.

The technical guide to Criminal court statistics can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-criminal-court-statistics

For full and detailed commentary please refer to the annual publication: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2017

We are changing how our quarterly bulletins look, and would welcome any feedback to commentary.champions@justice.gsi.gov.uk

For other feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at CJS_Statistics@justice.gsi.gov.uk

1. Criminal cases in the magistrates’ courts

Outstanding cases in magistrates’ courts are at a similar level to Q2 2017

Despite receipts being slightly higher than disposals in Q3 2017, the number of outstanding cases remained fairly similar to the previous quarter, at 285,000 in Q3 2017.

Figure 1: Magistrates’ courts caseload, Q2 2012 to Q3 2017 (Source: Table M1)

Magistrates’ court caseload (Figure 1)

In the latest quarter the total number of receipts increased slightly from 375,300 in Q2 2017 to 376,900 in Q3 2017. This is a similar level of receipts to Q3 2016 (377,600).

Disposals have decreased slightly in the latest quarter, falling by 1% to 375,600 in Q3 2017. Overall disposals have decreased by 3% since Q3 2016.

Despite the number of receipts becoming slightly higher than disposals in Q3 2017 the number of outstanding cases have remained similar to Q2 2017. Overall the total number of outstanding cases has increased by around 1% since Q3 2016. 2. Criminal cases in the Crown Court

Outstanding cases in Crown Court have fallen

Disposals remained higher than receipts in the quarter, continuing to drive the decrease in outstanding cases to 38,700, the lowest number in the quarterly time series.

Figure 2: Crown Court caseload, Q1 2009 to Q3 2017 (Source: Table C1)

Receipts (Figure 2)

Receipts have fallen by 3% since Q2 2017 and overall by 5% since Q3 2016. Receipts for triable-either-way cases have seen a reduction of 8% since Q2 2017, while receipts for indictable only cases have decreased by 2% in the same time period.

Disposals (Figure 2)

Disposals remained fairly stable at around 29,500 between Q2 2017 and Q3 2017, but have decreased by 5% since Q3 2016. In the latest quarter, triable-either-way disposals and indictable only disposals fell by 3% and 1% respectively.

Outstanding (Figure 2)

Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have gradually decreased since Q4 2014, mainly due to disposals remaining higher than receipts since Q1 2015. Overall outstanding cases have declined by 10% since Q3 2016, and in the latest quarter they have declined by 4% to 38,700 cases, the lowest number in the quarterly time series.

The driver of this declining trend has been triable-either-way cases, which have fallen by 5% in the latest quarter and 15% since Q3 2016. Indictable only cases followed a similar pattern but to a lesser magnitude, decreasing by 1% in the latest quarter and by 5% between Q3 2016 and Q3 2017. 3. Receipts, disposals and outstanding cases in the Crown Court by offence group

Violence against the person still had the highest number of outstanding cases

In Q3 2017 the number of outstanding violence against the person cases decreased from 7,700 in Q2 2017 to 7,400 in Q3 2017, whilst continuing to have the highest volume of receipts, disposals and outstanding cases.

Figure 3: Outstanding cases by offence group, for trial cases, Q1 2010 - Q3 2017 (Source: Pivot table 1)

Crown Court receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by offence group (Figure 3)

Violence against the person had the highest number of receipts, at 3,700 in Q3 2017. Disposals for violence against the person cases (4,000) continued to be higher than receipts in Q3 2017 driving the 4% decline in outstanding cases in the latest quarter. Outstanding cases for violence against the person have declined since Q2 2015 (10,400), and are at their lowest level since Q1 2013, now standing at 7,400 in Q3 2017.

Despite sexual offences having the fifth highest number of both receipts and disposals, at 2,000 and 2,300 respectively, they had the second largest number of outstanding cases. In Q3 2017 there were 5,100 outstanding sexual offence cases, a decrease of 6% from 5,400 cases in the previous quarter. This large number of outstanding cases for sexual offences could be related to their longer average number of days from first listing to completion, when compared to other offences.

The number of outstanding cases for sexual offences peaked in Q1 2016 at 6,600 cases and have been decreasing since; by the end of Q3 2017 the number of outstanding sexual offence cases were at the lowest level since Q3 2013. 4. Timeliness

The average number of days from first listing in the magistrates’ court to completion in the Crown Court has decreased

For cases completing in the Crown Court the average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court decreased from 174 days in Q2 2017 to 172 days in Q3 2017.

Average hearing times for not guilty plea trials was 17.3 hours in Q3 2017

Average hearing times for not guilty plea trials in the Crown Court increased from 14.9 hours in Q2 2017 to 17.3 hours in Q3 2017, the highest level in the quarterly time series. Hearing times for guilty plea trials remained stable at 1.7 hours in the latest quarter (table C7).

Figure 4: Average number of days (mean) from first listing in the magistrates’ courts to completion in the Crown Court, for Crown Court criminal cases, Q2 2010 to Q3 2017 (Source: Table T4)

Crown Court criminal cases - First listing in the magistrates’ courts to completion in the Crown Court (Figure 4)

The decrease in time from sending to the Crown Court to main hearing has driven the overall decrease in first listing to completion in the Crown Court, decreasing by 2 days from 123 days in Q2 2017 to 121 days in Q3 2017. The average time from first listing at the magistrates’ court to completion at the magistrates’ court increased from 6 days in Q2 2017 to 7 days in Q3 2017, whilst the time from main hearing to completion in the Crown court remained similar at 44 days in Q3 2017. Annex A: Enforcement of financial impositions

Total financial impositions have decreased in the latest quarter

Total financial impositions have decreased by 12% in Q3 2017, mostly driven by a decrease in fines following one high imposition in Q2 2017.

Figure 5: HMCTS management information: Financial impositions by imposition type, England and Wales, Q2 2011 – Q3 2017 (Source: Table A2)

Financial impositions and amounts paid by imposition type (Figure 5, table A2)

Between Q2 2017 and Q3 2017 total financial impositions decreased by 12% to £161 million in Q3 2017. This decrease was mostly driven by a decrease in fine impositions of £20.6m, following one large fine of £20m imposed in Q2 2017. Overall since Q3 2016 total financial impositions increased by 4%, from £156m in Q3 2016.

In Q3 2017, 9% (£14.5m) of all criminal court financial impositions were paid within the imposition month, a similar level to the collection rate of Q2 2017 (just over 9%). Since Q3 2016 the collection rate of impositions collected within the imposition month has fallen by 2 percentage points from 11% in Q3 2016 to 9% in the latest quarter.

Outstanding financial impositions (Table A4)

In Q3 2017, the total value of financial impositions outstanding in England and Wales was £935 m. The amount of outstanding financial impositions has been increasing since Q1 2014, and showed an increase of £188m (25%) between Q3 2016 and Q3 2017. Annex B: The use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals

The total number of completed service requests decreased slightly in Q3 2017

A total of 37,000 completed service requests for language interpreter and translation services were made in Q3 2017, a 2% decrease compared to Q2 2017.

The success rate of completed service requests remained at 98%

Although the overall success rate stayed the same in Q3 2017, the success rate varied across different service types.

Figure 6: Number of completed language service requests and overall success rate, Q1 2013 to Q3 2017 (Source: Table L1)

Completed service requests (Table L1)

The figures comprise data from two separate suppliers, thebigword Group Ltd for face to face interpretation, and Clarion UK Ltd for non-spoken languages (special services). In Q3 2017, criminal courts made the greatest use of face-to-face language interpreter and translation services at 43%, whilst 34% were for tribunal cases, 16% were for civil and family court cases, and 6% of requests were for other cases.

Success rate (Figure 6)

Since Q2 2017, the success rate for standard language requests remained at 98%, whilst for “rare” languages it increased by 1 percentage point to 89%, and for special services it increased by 1 percentage point to 100%.

1 The statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals are Official Statistics, except the statistics under the new contracts which are ‘Provisional Statistics’. The total number of complaints for completed service requests decreased in Q3 2017

Whilst the number of complaints decreased from 447 in Q2 2017 to 420 in Q3 2017, the complaint rate has remained stable, at 1% in Q3 2017.

The total number of ‘off contract’ service requests increased slightly in Q3 2017

The number of service requests ‘off contract’ increased from 302 requests in Q2 2017 to 316 in Q3 2017.

Figure 7: Number of complaints and complaint rate, Q1 2013 to Q3 2017 (Source: Table L2)

Number of complaints and complaint rate (Figure 7)

The most common cause of complaint was ‘interpreter did not attend’ which accounted for 25% (105) of all complaints made in Q3 2017. In the previous quarter the most frequent complaint had been ‘interpreter was late’, but this decreased by 8 percentage points to 23% (95) in Q3 2017. Correspondingly, ‘no interpreter available’ increased by 9 percentage points from Q2 2017, to 19% (81) in the latest quarter.

The complaint rate for each requestor type remained fairly stable between Q2 2017 and Q3 2017. In Q3 2017 the complaint rate was highest in tribunals at 2%, whilst both criminal courts and civil & family courts had complaint rates of less than 1%.

Off contract requests (Table L3)

‘Off contract’ requests at tribunals increased from 174 in Q2 2017 to 184 in Q3 2017, whereas the number of ‘Off contract’ requests made by criminal courts and civil & family courts remained similar to the number requested in Q2 2017.

Tribunals accounted for 58% (184) of all completed 'off contract' service requests, criminal courts accounted for 34% (109), while civil & family courts accounted for 7% (23). Annex C: Further information on criminal courts data

The data presented in this publication are provisional. Final data for each calendar year is published in June each year in our Criminal Courts Statistics annual bulletin, following further data cleaning and the incorporation of additional cases not available in our original extracts of administrative data.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

- Two technical guides providing background information on ‘Criminal Court Statistics’ and ‘Statistics on the use of languages and interpreters in courts and tribunals’, including data collection and processing, as well as relevant revisions policies and legislation.
- A set of overview tables, covering each section of this bulletin.
- A set of pivot tables containing Crown Court data broken down by offence group.
- 3 CSV files which feature court level breakdowns of published data:
  - Criminal Courts listings transparency.
  - Criminal Courts timeliness.
  - Crown Court receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by offence group.

National Statistics status

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

All official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 020 3334 3536 Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice:

Damon Wingfield, Head of Criminal Justice System Statistics Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Next update: 29 March 2018

URL: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-July-to-September-2017

© Crown copyright Produced by the Ministry of Justice

Alternative formats are available on request from statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk

______________________________________________________________________

2 Statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals are Official Statistics.